An acquaintance from Canada brought this beer to me direct from the Great White North. Aroma hinted a sweet caramel, but very subtle. A thin, off-white head left small spotty lacing. Nice amber color veering towards copper, almost a true red hue. Hops are first on the palate. A nice sweet malt flavor steps up and stays through to the finish. At 5%, I was able to detect the alcohol surprisingly. A nice froth releases a touch of Vanilla, maybe? The hops come back for the finish as well. Very drinkable, goood flavor. Cheers,
Joe

Pours a red shade of copper with two fingers of fluffy off-white head. The head immediately fizzles out to a thin cap over the beer, leaving no lace behind. Anemic caramel malt and floral hop aroma. Mild sweet caramel with a hint of nut. A little bit of floral hops in the finish. Low bitterness. Light-bodied with fine carbonation. A little on the watery side. Easy to drink, but bland and boring. Mediocre.

I think they have strengthened the formula from previous years. At the time of having this at the LCBO Summrhill Fest in 2007, this brewery was concentrating on sweet things and is brewing cake with beer, ice cream with beer. That's its target niche. This brew is carmelized malt. There's good carbonization here.

Appearance - Slightly hazy amber/light brown colour with a fizzy beige head. There doesn't appear to be much carbonation and there isn't much lacing. The head lasted for 3-4 minutes.

Smell - Corn syrup, grain, malts

Taste & Mouth - The beer has an average amount of carbonation and I can taste toffee, malts, and hint of hops. There is also a little bit of citrus and a breadiness. It ends with a light malty aftertaste.

Overall - Picked this up in can format while forgetting that I had tried it from a bottle. It's a step up from the Macro beers out there, but I have reason to pick this up again. Especially since Great Lakes has their Crazy Canuck beer sitting right beside it on the shelf calling my name.

Can from the LCBO, 473ml into a pint glass. Canned on code is H1611, translates to August 16, 2011.

Pours a filtered copper with some amber-red highlights, white head which falls to a thick film and retains fairly well. Translucent body with visible and active carbonation. Nose has some caramel, grains, and some toastiness. Taste has more caramel, darker breads and some moderate sweetness to it. Graininess isn't as apparent as the nose, and makes this quite pleasant. Some hop notes and a touch of bitterness, but more malt sweetness than anything. Good medium-light body, with a relatively high carbonation. Fairly drinkable and this surprised me; I've always passed this up at the LCBO and at the brewery store, but this proves to be an easy drinking amber lager. Nothing off here, and this could pair well with a variety of foods I'd imagine.

Bottle- Pours a dark amber colour with just a hint of rouge in it. Not as red as I would have thought. head is frothy, and off white. Aroma is sour, minimal hops. Taste is slightly sour, earthy, with some malt hints. Watery on the finish. Decent enough to drink again.

Tallboy can picked up at the LCBO. Early on in my beer-drinking career ambers were one of my favourite styles, but it has been a seriously long time since I've tried a new one.

Pours an appropriately amber-copper colour, with a mostly translucent body, atop which is seated an ample two-finger puffy off-white head. It lasts a few minutes before decaying to a creamy, even cap and collar on the surface. Not much lacing. The aroma is pleasant but nothing unusually good for the style - malt-forward, with toffee, nuts and lots of caramel. No notable hop presence on the nose.

A few things going on in the flavour department, but none of them are that interesting. Lightly roasted grains, lager yeast, some slight sourness alongside the expected caramel malt sweetness and nutty notes. Much like the aroma, there isn't a lot of hop here to balance the malts, just a bit of floral bitterness. Pretty crisp finish, without much of an aftertaste. Carbonation is a bit high for my tastes, it's definitely approaching macro levels. Light-bodied, watery and fairly refreshing.

It's drinkable, but really nothing special. Kind of reminds me of a cleaner Keith's Red, without the adjunct - better than the macro equivalent but overall it's a little disappointing because these guys are capable of better. Not something I am likely to recommend, or get again.

[Updated April 3 2014]

Alright, I'm a liar: I picked up another can. Usually when I leave a beer alone for a few years and return to it, my opinions have shifted a little. That isn't really the case with Red Leaf Lager, as this brew is essentially just as 'meh-worthy' as I remember. Let me make myself clear - this is NOT a bad beer, it's just a forgettable, uninspired effort. It's clean-tasting enough that I could drink this (and would always take it over, say the macro ambers), but it's not hard to find a better malt-forward lager for the price.

Another can from my last LCBO trip, This one poured a dark brown/ruby with some slight white head which I suppose makes sense since it is a "Red" lager. Smell is very faintly of sweet malt, not a whole lot in the nose here. Taste is very light with a hint of sweetness in the finish but the hop profile is a little weak. Mouthfeel is nice and clean, this would go well with food s the flavor isn't overpowering, would also serve as a good "Lawnmower" beer on a hot day.

Pours a nice copper-amber colour with a rather small white head that has good retention and a fair amount of visible carbonation.

Very malt laden aroma. Chestnut, caramel and a plum-like tone are accompanied by toasted note and a nutmeg-like spiciness.

Relatively sweet taste with characteristics like the aroma. Dark toffee malts with a plum or red grape-like fruit tone. Backing of a fatty, nutty flavour and a hint of chocolate.

Quite thin-bodied with a prickly pop of carbonation on the front of the tongue before a creamy sensation takes over. A bit of a syrupy resin-like feeling to the aftertaste, but clean tasting with a hint of fresh grains.

Not a bad beer at all. It's very smooth-drinking and accessible. Would make a good choice for Sunday afternoon football parties and paired quite well with pepperoni pizza. Could use a touch more body.